Diary of a Heisman Hopeful: Part 2

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Jrob Andsteal keeps running. Are the Heisman voters watching?

By Jon Robinson

I'm looking around my dorm room, and I see something new. It says picture and it's hanging on my computer monitor. I zoom in for a close-up, and I'm like "ugh!" I hope that's a picture of Jrob's sister. You'd think with the games I've been having lately, I could find a better looking piece of polygon. I'm going to use this as motivation.

And I'll need it.

Game three is going to be a tough one. #5 Oklahoma is coming to town. They're 2-0 this season, and I know this is going to be one of my toughest games of the year. Later in the season, I also face #22 Cal, #21 Arizona State, and #1 USC. And people used to think the Pac-10 was soft.

I'll show Oklahoma who's soft.

Before the game starts, I see that I'm named one of UCLA's key players. Not bad for my third game. But I don't want to be a key player, I want to be a Heisman winner.

I lose the coin toss and Oklahoma elects to receive the ball. I'm surprised that Oklahoma tries throwing the ball on first down, but I'm able to sack the quarterback for a five yard loss. This forces second and long, and I sniff out a pass to the halfback and swat it down. On third down, the Sooners attempt a deep out, but the receiver is unable to get a foot in bounds and they're forced to punt.

I'm just surprised that they didn't hand the ball off to Adrian Peterson. He's the best running back in all of college football, but luckily for the Bruins, he didn't get a carry on the first series.

I, in turn, handed the ball off three straight times to Jrob, gaining 33 yards in the process. I then go for a pass, but my quarterback was hit and fumbled. I recovered the ball, and decided to run an option to the left. I pitch the ball out to Jrob about five yards past the line of scrimmage and he takes off all the way down to the one. I hand it to him one more time for the touchdown.

On first down, Oklahoma again tries to pass, but I called a 4-3 Thunder Green and blitzed my linebackers right up the middle. I smack the quarterback hard and he's left rolling on the ground injured. That marks two straight games I've been able to knock the starting quarterback off the field. The injury report shows up after a few more plays and Oklahoma's quarterback is out for the season with a broken collar bone.

When Oklahoma gets the ball back, they start using Peterson to the fullest. Run right, run left. They even pulled a wide receiver reverse option that saw the receiver take the reverse, then pitch the ball back to Peterson for a 20-yard gain. Unbelievable.

And by running the ball, Oklahoma runs the clock, keeping the ball until there's only 2:51 left in the half. That's one way to stop a Heisman hopeful - don't let him run the ball.

I'm fiending for the rock by the time they score. I still have that picture hanging on my computer burned in my mind. I can't go down like that.

Once I get the ball, I hand it to Jrob and follow my big offensive line all the way down the field about five yards a carry. I break a few longer, get stopped in the backfield on a couple, but for the most part, my line is dominating, giving Jrob plenty of room to maneuver. I'm running out of time, though, so I start using the hurry-up offense. Oklahoma is caught twice for being offside as their linemen seem to have a tough time getting on the right side of the ball in time. I make it to the seven with 33 seconds left. I hand the ball to Jrob and run off tackle, diving into the end zone to give UCLA a 14-7 lead at the half.